Fiers' struggles continue as A's fall flat

OAKLAND -- Is it time to start worrying about Mike Fiers?

The A’s Opening Day starter stumbled again in Saturday’s 10-1 loss to the Blue Jays, allowing six earned runs for the third straight start. The right-hander only lasted 3 1/3 innings as the Jays knocked him around for nine hits, pushing his ERA to 8.28, second-highest in the American League behind Chicago’s Reynaldo Lopez.

Even when Fiers is dealing, he often plays with fire by pitching up in the zone. But as manager Bob Melvin noted, Fiers’ margin for error can be slim.

“There’s always a fine line with him with what’s up and his style and where he pitches, whether it’s the top of the strike zone or a little bit lower,” Melvin said. “He got some balls in the middle of the plate and they hit him hard.”

Fiers first encountered trouble in the third inning, when the Jays used three singles and a sacrifice bunt to push across their first run. Though he wiggled out of the jam without any further damage, Fiers couldn’t stop the deluge in the fourth. The first five Jays reached base against Fiers, highlighted by Rowdy Tellez’s three-run blast and a subsequent solo shot from Brandon Drury.

While Tellez’s homer came on a hanging breaking ball that sat on the outside part of the plate, Fiers said he hit his target on Drury’s dinger.

“I honestly don’t know. I’m kind of confused on what’s going on and why I’m not getting the job done,” Fiers said. “Today I’ve felt the best I’ve felt this year. There’s pitches here and there where you could say, ‘I wish I could have made a better pitch.’ In the end, you’ve got to be attacking those guys. You can’t be nibbling on the corners every pitch. But they put some good swings on good pitches.”

The Jays piled on with three more runs against the A’s bullpen and will go for the series sweep on Sunday. The A’s have now been outscored 25-5 on the current homestand, as the rotation has been battered around for 19 runs in 18 innings (9.50 ERA) in the four contests.

The nine hits given up by Fiers were a season high. He’s a finesse pitcher who relies on control. Unless he starts throwing 95 mph sometime soon, Fiers needs to find answers elsewhere.

“I need to figure it out pretty quick,” Fiers said. “It’s still a little bit early, but these games count as well. I need to clean it up and pitch better for this team.”

Lineup still struggling

As alarming as Fiers’ struggles are on the mound, the A’s have to be concerned about their recent performance at the plate.

Toronto starter Matt Shoemaker left after three innings when he injured his left knee trying to tag Matt Chapman during a rundown between first and second base. But the Blue Jays bullpen still stymied the A’s lineup as reliever Sam Gaviglio tossed four perfect innings.

The A’s started off the season homer-happy, but only have one long ball in four games throughout the homestand. On Saturday, only three batters reached scoring position -- two of them coming when the game was pretty much decided in the ninth.

“We’ve been stagnant,” Melvin said. “It hasn’t just been on the pitching end. We have not swung the bats well. … We have to get on a little better roll offensively.”

Slugger Khris Davis went 0-for-3 and is now hitless in his last 11 at-bats, while Kendrys Morales (.192), Jurickson Profar (.181) and Ramón Laureano (.221) also went a combined 0-for-10 in the bottom half of the order.

In a lighter moment Saturday, Morales made his second career pitching appearance, allowing one run in the ninth.

“It’s still early in the season,” Morales said. “It’s just a matter of time before the timing gets back. Once we get a few more games under our belt, the timing and the results will show up as well.”